Demons&Shrines
by Forgotten Lake
Summary: Kagome's been back a year from the feudal era, and things just aren't the same. So when her old friend shows up again, and she discovers that there's another dimension full of demons, how can she resist finding out more? Inuyasha/Mugen Spiral
1. Chapter 1

Tsubasa Kya and I have decided that the lack of barely any Mugen Spiral fanfiction is a crime against humanity and it is our civic duty to correct this. While I do have an idea to do a purely MS fanfic, this ended up being a crossover between Mugen Spiral and Inuyasha. Tsubasa posted first, but I have more written (over 16,000 words!) I decided I'd just make this a normal-sized chapter, though, because otherwise it would be too much at once.

If anyone hasn't read Mugen Spiral, it's only two volumes long (unfortunately) and is one of my favorite manga. I highly recommend it. I've tried to explain a bit about Mugen Spiral in it, and will go into it farther later.

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Mugen Spiral-I'd finish it. I wish I owned Inuyasha-I'd make it shorter. Unfortunately, I've resigned myself to writing fanfiction, because I own neither.

**Demons&Shrines**

_Chapter 1_

Kagome was outside practicing her shooting. Ever since she'd completed the jewel, things seemed so, well, boring. She wasn't able to return to the feudal era, though some of her youkai friends were still alive. However, they'd changed a great deal over the years. Inuyasha had gotten, well, old. He looked to be in his mid-thirties, had been married who knows how many times, and had had even more children who'd grown and moved away. It wasn't bad, per say, but it was just he was older now, more responsible, and had had time to recover from Naraku, had had other things happen, and was just-different. Kouga was a recluse. Wolves had been pretty much hunted out through the years. The few remaining wolves and wolf youkai stayed away from humans at all cost, staying high in the mountains and only coming down occasionally for food. She hadn't even seen him at all, and didn't really want to. In some ways, she felt guilty-she should have remembered and warned him about that. Kirara had died a couple of centuries ago, and Shippou…Shippou only knew her through stories. He'd been so young when he'd meet her that he barely remembered her. Having felt almost like a mother to him, that was almost the hardest blow of all.

Yet another arrow flew and landed with a solid thunk. Souta, who was trying to cross the yard, peeked around the corner before stepping out. He walked over to the tree and tried to pull out the arrow without success. Kagome rolled her eyes and walked across the courtyard to remove the arrows from the target.

"Kagome, you sure stuck these arrows in good, but your aim sucks," Souta said, in an attempt to regain dignity.

Kagome stopped and surveyed her handiwork from a bit closer, then walked the last few yards. "Not only are you still a shrimp at fifteen, you can't read too?" she said.

"Hey!" Souta protested, before moving a little further away. He looked at the word spelled onto the target. He swallowed. "What did the target ever do to you?"

Kagome shrugged and started pulling out the arrows, which spelled die, as Souta decided it might be the better part of valor to retreat. She firmly yanked each arrow out, making sure they weren't damaged before returning them to her quiver. Now what? She was completely out of ideas. Two years and a half years of traveling around, killing youkai, and a year of cramming through the last of her high school material so that she could pass her high school exams didn't exactly give her options. Her grandfather took care of the shrine, her mother kept house and edited books to keep herself occupied as well put some extra money in the family coffers, and Souta, of course, was still in high school. Kagome knew her mother really didn't have the money to put her through college, and besides, what would she do? Working inside was pretty much out of the question-going to school for tests and to turn in work had been painful. At home, she could spend most of her time outside, only going inside when she had to. She'd never used to be like that, but after everything that had happened, she couldn't really feel comfortable. Kagome shivered, unpleasant memories surfacing, and decided she needed a walk.

Kagome strolled along the streets mindlessly, steering around people and objects in her path without really paying attention to them. Much later, maybe around three hours or so, she stopped, and realized she wasn't quite sure where in Tokyo she was. She shrugged-it had been happening more and more often lately. She stuck her hands in her pockets and was about to turn around when she felt something that was wrong-a demonic presence, yes, but different from the normal youkai she felt, and she could tell it felt angry.

Where once Kagome might have gripped about the fact she couldn't have a normal life and maybe even ignored it because it wasn't her business, she felt not only obligated but excited, and followed the direction her senses were tugging her towards. Another twenty minutes later and she was in a slightly dilapidated neighborhood, one that maybe five or six years ago had been nice, but now was a bit rundown. The sensation was coming from a house at the end of the street that looked like it had been abandoned. As she got closer she could hear moans of pain and she started to run, hoping she wasn't too late. The door was open and she hurried through the hallways until she reached the room she felt the evil coming from. She didn't have her arrows with her, but nowadays those were more for working out frustrations or for using in casting more permanent spells, nothing she needed for killing a youkai. The youkai, who looked almost completely human, at least from the back, except for the years which were sharply pointed and stuck out more sideways then Shippou's or Sesshoumaru's had. He was bent over a crying girl who was maybe twelve or thirteen, and looked like she'd been living on the streets before everything had happened. Now she was bleeding from various places from cuts and looked like she was had long ago passed from really being completely conscious of what was happening.

"Like little girls do you?" Kagome asked sternly, guessing that her voice and presence would distract the youkai from the girl, which, of course, it did. It was a male youkai, who looked different from any other youkai she'd seen before. The youkai looked exquisitely beautiful, like many youkai, with black hair and blue eyes, but was dressed in something that looked like something a cosplayer might wear and had a short horn sticking out from the middle of his forehead. He was grinning rather savagely as he looked her over in a rather lecherous, almost hungry manner. Kagome's lip curled slightly in disgust.

"Little girls are quite nice, thank you, but you do look delicious," the youkai said, and with a twist of his fingers, Kagome found herself slowly sinking into the wood beneath her.

Kagome didn't scream however, much to the youkai's obvious surprise. She only gave a bored sigh, directed a bit of purification energy to the wood around her ankles to negate the youkai's power over the wood and stepped out. The youkai gapped at her in shock before a grin suddenly broke out across his face. "A spiritualist! How delightful! And you seem so powerful; I couldn't even sense your abilities! What a boon! When I take your power, I'll be able to beat any contender for the throne!" He gestured again, and vines of wood burst towards her.

Unfortunately for him, these reminded her of Naraku's tentacles a little too much, and Kagome, acting on instinct, let out a burst of purity that purified not only his weapons of wood, but the youkai as well.

"Drat," Kagome said, heaving a sigh, "I wanted to know what sort of youkai that was. He looked and felt so odd…oh well. At least I can get this girl some treatment." She walked over to the girl who'd finally passed out, and using her tearing up her t-shirt to use as bandages, started to tie up the worst of her injuries. After she was finished, she picked the girl up in her arms and ended outside to get the girl to a hospital. Kagome, as had become her habit, was wearing a sports bra underneath, so she didn't feel too uncomfortable going outside in only her bra, though maybe it might have been better if she wasn't covered in the girl's blood. She received some odd and others concerned looks as she walked through the streets, but she looked so off putting and remote that no one disturbed her. Once she was out of the run down area, she picked out a man in a business suit who was sipping some tea while he read a newspaper at a café nearby, and walked over to him and cleared her throat.

The man looked up, startled, and gulped slightly. Her hair was wind-blown from the running she'd done, her face a bit fierce and stern, her bra and hands were bloody, she was holding someone who not only was wounded but had to weigh at least 95 to maybe 110 pounds as if she was carrying something light like a cat, and presented an altogether disturbing sight. He stammered slightly when he asked, "C-c-can I h-help you?"

"In which direction is the nearest hospital?" she asked.

"I-I can call an ambulance," the man nervously offered, wondering if the woman was a gang member whose friend had been shot or stabbed in a fight.

Kagome considered this, since she'd planned on making sure the girl was brought to the hospital herself, but she needed to call Inuyasha and ask which policeman she should talk to about the fact a youkai had been attacking a girl and she'd purified it, so that they could close off the scene while the scent was fresh. Plus to see if there were any legalities involved in purifying a youkai. "That will be fine. I'll leave her here with you," she said, and carefully sat the girl down in the chair opposite the man and walked off. The man gapped as at her back before scrambling to get his phone out to place the call.

Kagome, in the meantime, found a pay phone and called Inuyasha's number (he'd left it in case anything happened that she needed help with, more for old time's sake then anything else).

"Hello? Inuyasha? This is Kagome. I've had a bit of a situation and was wondering how it should be handled," Kagome said, trying to keep things mostly professional.

"What sort of problem?" Inuyasha asked, sounding somewhere between impersonal and worried.

"I was out for a walk, and sensed a really pissed off youkai. He was torturing a girl, looked to be a street kid maybe eleven or twelve, and it looked like it had been cutting on her for some time, maybe even a day or two. He had control over wood, I believe, and after trying to suck me down into the floor, he sent his tentacles after me. I sort of reacted before I found out more information from him. It reminded me of Naraku's tentacles. There was one weird thing, though. He didn't look like a normal demon. His ears were pointy, but they stuck out more, and he had a horn sticking out of his forehead," Kagome explained.

"Damn," Inuyasha swore, "I'll make a couple of calls and be down there with a friend of mine as soon as possible. Where are you? And what did you do with the girl?"

Kagome's face flushed red in embarrassment. "The girl's being taken to the hospital right now," she said, as she watched an ambulance go by, "I let someone use his cell phone to make the call and kept an eye on him while I called you-I figured I needed to get someone down here as quickly as possible. As to where I am…" Kagome tried to find a street sign, and couldn't, "Um…just a second," and ignoring the muffled "The hell?" coming from the line she went over to someone and asked where she was.

"I'm on Tetsuna Lane," Kagome said, "but the actual place it happened was four or five blocks away.

"Tell me later," Inuyasha said with a sigh, "I'll be there in twenty minutes or so."

Kagome stared at the phone, and hung up. She never thought that she'd miss the Inuyasha who would have called her an idiot and gripped at her. She was friends with that Inuyasha though.

She was left to consider things for over fifteen minutes longer then Inuyasha had promised before Inuyasha had pulled up in a green car that looked like it was a few years old. In the passenger seat was someone with black hair that she couldn't quite see from the angle she was at. The window rolled down and Inuyasha yelled out, "You're sticking out like a frickin' sore thumb! Get in!"

Kagome obediently opened the back door and slipped in. "You standing there covered in blood, plus you're not even wearing a shirt. Have you no sense?" Inuyasha asked, "I'm not even going to go into the fact you had no idea where you were. Can you even tell us how to get to the where everything happened?"

He was scolding her like she was one of his kids. She restrained herself from arguing with him and simply said, "You told me to wait here until you got here. I didn't have any other clothes on me, and I used my shirt to bind the girl's wounds. My clothes don't spontaneously repair or clean themselves. I didn't have many options."

"She has a point, Inuyasha," the man said, "By the way, Ms. Higurashi, I'm Detective Hiroshi. Could you please give you an idea of how everything happened in detail?"

"First she needs to give me the directions," Inuyasha pointed out.

"You're going in the right direction. Another block. Okay, it's that abandoned house at the end of this block," Kagome said, directing while Inuyasha drove at a pace slightly faster then was probably legal.

Inuyasha parked the car, and the three of them walked into the house. Kagome took a deep breath as they left the car, grateful to be out of the small space, and not looking forward to returning to the scene of the crime. It was one thing to charge into a house when someone was being attacked, and something completely different to do so when there wasn't an emergency. However, she didn't want to give up in front of Inuyasha, so she gritted her teeth and went in.

Inuyasha's face was more controlled then it had been centuries ago, but Kagome could still tell by the slight wrinkling of the nose, that Inuyasha was quite disgusted by the smell. Detective Hiroshi, who now that she could see him, had a pretty standard looking Japanese face and wore a slightly shabby blue suit, had a frown on his face. Kagome wondered what he looked like normally, but she thought it was sort of rude to ask him to take his illusion off, or "peek" using her abilities. Kagome brought them to the room and shrugged. Other then a prevalence of blood and a lingering of a demonic presence mixed with pain, suffering, and a savage glee, she couldn't really tell much.

"Okay, now that we're here, why don't you give me the whole story," Detective Hiroshi asked.

"Yeah, like why the heck you say you were on a walk but you're almost eighteen miles away from your shrine," Inuyasha said.

Kagome glared at him slightly then turned her attention to Detective Hiroshi. "I go for long walks sometimes, for my own reasons," she said, before turning another brief glare towards Inuyasha, "and I was about to turn around and head home when I sensed an odd demonic presence that seemed overly aggressive and malicious. I was worried that there was a rogue demon that might have decided to snack on a human or something, or maybe that a couple of demons had gotten into a fight. I wasn't sure what it might be, but I figured I should check it out."

"You didn't call for back up why?" Inuyasha asked.

"I couldn't be sure it was anything important. For all I could know at that point, it could have be a domestic fight. So anyways, I followed that presence here. As I got close to the house, I could hear moans and some crying, and the house looked like it was abandoned so I went in. I found a youkai with black hair and ears that are a bit bigger with ears that point out more then normal leaning over the girl I found. She appeared to have retreated into her mind, still suffering, still moaning and crying, but not really paying attention to what was around her. I got the youkai's attention. He turned around. He had a pretty boy face like many youkai and had blue eyes, but the odd thing to me was the small horn sticking out the top of his forehead, sort of in his hair. He didn't say what his name was, but he did say he was going to be more then happy to add me to his meal plan, basically. He then demonstrated his control over the wood in this house by making it sort of melt around where I was standing. I sent out a bit of purification power to stop his control of the wood and stepped out. That was here, the weird indent in the floor. I hadn't yet purified him because I was going to ask some questions, like why he felt different from other youkai, and maybe try and capture him alive. He got all excited for some reason about the fact that I was a "spiritualist" as he called me and had the crazy idea he could steal my powers. He sent tentacles of wood towards me. That startled me, and I sent out a wave of purification which not only destroyed the tentacles but him as well. I think that that small pile of dust right there is probably him, though it's sort of hard to tell in all this mess. I then went over to the girl, bandaged her wounds, and carried her away from this district and had someone call an ambulance. After that I called Inuyasha. That's pretty much all that happened. Is there anything I need to know about, or any paperwork I need to fill out, or any procedures I should know in case something like this happens again?" Kagome asked.

Inuyasha groaned while Detective Hiroshi chuckled. "Well, we'd prefer it if you'd wait to purify until we can ask questions, and if he was a registered youkai there would be paperwork you'd need to fill out and a lot more headaches all around, but from your description even then you'd probably be okay. Luckily for you, he's what we call a demon. From what we can tell, the demons all share the odd ears and single horns, but we really don't know much about them. The stupid idiots usually have to be killed because they won't stop fighting or they disappear, and they won't listen to us when we try to explain the rules. Most of the time there aren't many around and we just deal with the ones we find, but for some reason, the past few months the numbers of them have increased in a ridiculous rate. We've never identified demons on Japan that actually really live here-most of them just pop up and get themselves killed or disappear again. Nor have we been able to discover from counterparts around the world any location that demons are suspected to live on earth. We believe that there is possibly another dimension they come from, and that they can hop from one to the other. Unfortunately, until we catch one alive that doesn't disappear or die, that's as much as we know."

"Wow," Kagome said.

"That pretty much sums it up. If something like this happens again, you can try to catch the demon without killing it, and if it's a normal youkai with a human form, definitely try to not kill it. Lesser demons, however, have so little intelligence that if you manage to find one, you can take care of it," Detective Hiroshi said, "I do understand, though, that it can sometimes be hard to control your purification powers if you're in trouble. If it's a choice between you or it, then go through with it."

"Better yet, report the fact that something's happening and get the hell out of there. You are not a policewoman and you don't know the rules, so stay out of it," Inuyasha said, once more in the same tone of voice someone's father might use when his child stepped out of line.

Kagome closed her eyes briefly. That really hurt. She took a deep breath and let it out, then opened her eyes and looked at Inuyasha, her eyes hard. "Inuyasha, I understand that it's been five centuries for you, and you now consider me little more then an idiotic teenager. I can understand if you don't want anything to do with me any more. However, I am not one of your children. I am now legally adult, and I am a miko. You cannot expect me to stand around while someone's being tortured waiting for the police when I am perfectly capable of facing a demon and dealing with it. Not only is that against what being a miko stands for, but it's something I would never do. I'm sorry that I lost my friend five centuries ago. He was my best friend, and I'll miss him, because even when he considered me an idiot and he didn't like the fact that I was constantly doing things contrary to what he thought was best, he trusted me, and I'd like to think he was proud to fight alongside me. Goodbye, Inuyasha. Detective Hiroshi, if anything comes up, I'll be sure to contact you. Thanks for coming here."

Kagome's voice was definitely trembling a bit towards the end, and Kagome turned to leave before she started to cry in front of Inuyasha.

* * * * *

Ura was in his human form, wearing a black t-shirt and army green cargo pants as he followed behind Yayoi. "Why do we have to go to some old woman's house again?" he grumbled, his arms folded in front of him.

"We don't have to go anywhere," Yayoi said with a sigh, "I'm not making you follow me."

"Right," Ura drawled, "Like I'm stupid enough to let you get out of my sight so some other demon could gobble you up. I don't know how you managed to live as long as you did."

"I am not defenseless, as I'm quite sure you remember," Yayoi said with the slightest hint of threat to her voice.

"So why do I have to keep saving your ass?" Ura asked, watching the afore-mentioned body part as it swayed in front of him. He couldn't help himself. It was a rather cute one.

"You want to arrive as a cat?" Yayoi asked.

Ura decided that he'd won that argument decisively she'd had to threaten him with the thrice-damned rosary, and changed the subject.

"Seriously, though, the old woman's just paranoid. All she has to go on is hearing a few ghost moans and groans from the abandoned house next to her. Just because someone died in it doesn't mean that it's going to be haunted. Besides, didn't the old geezer that lived in that house die almost a year ago? If it was a ghost, wouldn't he show up right away?" Ura stated, trying to enforce his point.

"It's not like it's a long walk, and it doesn't hurt to check it out," Yayoi said, "It's my job, you know, not dealing with demons."

Ura sighed again, and followed after her. Everything had become so complicated. It had always seemed so simple before, but then his father became ill. Even then, he'd tried to make a simple plan. It had been a simple plan. Go to the human world, find a strong spiritualist, steal his or her powers, return to the demon world, heal his father, and figure out something to do for his little brother.

Obviously, things didn't quite work out that way. He'd felt he'd been winning the fight (though now he wondered why Yayoi hadn't called up some more of her spirits-Gaimei was pretty freaky, and while Ura didn't consider himself evil, certainly wasn't a saint either) until Yayoi used the thing on him and turned him into the cat. It just started going down hill from there. She had to unseal a crap load of beads before he was fully unsealed, and she wasn't inclined to do that, especially in the beginning. He'd started to admire her, in an odd way, because after all, she had beaten him. And she was a great cook. The more he saw, the more he wanted to know about her, because not only was she different from all the stories he'd heard about humans, she was different from anyone he'd ever met. Then Hakuyo'd shown up. That was a headache and a half. Hakuyo was a great person, of course, smart, a good fighter, and loyal to him. They'd been friends for pretty much forever. Didn't mean he wasn't a pain in the ass.

And just to show that bad things all seem to happen at once (he couldn't say three's 'cause he was already past THAT point) Ouga showed up. Normally, that wasn't a bad thing. Ouga had always been a pretty good younger brother, if a bit mopey and depressing, but Ouga was his brother. He'd gone crazy though, which was exactly why he'd wanted Ouga to stay the hell away from the dark powers! Idiot! He didn't care if Ouga was a bit weak compared to the rest of the family without them, at least he would have remained sane.

Anyways, that had turned out horribly as well. Yayoi'd been kidnapped and brought to demon world and he'd had to follow and rescue her and try not to kill his brother. That hadn't worked, and he'd had to get serious with his little brother, because he couldn't do anything else, and his brother almost died then when Yayoi, the person who'd just been kidnapped and almost killed, decides to try and pull him out.

Of course, that couldn't be the end of that. Some freak showed up and stolen Ouga away, and Ura could feel so much frickin' dark power coming from him it made Ouga look like a small fry. They go back home, and the by now usual things happened, like Yayoi getting into trouble, and Ura having to save her cute butt. Then the unthinkable had happened. Ura had been possessed, and Yayoi, the idiot, had offered to let him take his powers just so he could survive with his own free will.

He would swear to the fact (at least privately to himself-this fact wasn't going public) that his heart pretty much stopped for an instant there. That was what really gave him the motivation to gain control over that fucking spirit. How could she…

And THEN he found out that Yayoi had kept the fact that she had a wound from fighting Ouga that was the same sort of wound that was killing his father, the fucking king of all demons! That she'd been dying for half the time he'd known her because of him-because of him coming into her life. Ouga would have never targeted her otherwise. It was a miracle they'd managed to fix that problem, because Ura was still fucking confused about the entire situation. Yayoi was just…and he didn't know how to act around her. It was fun when he'd discovered her weakness, but on some level that he wasn't sure he wanted to admit to himself, he was glad for the opportunities it gave him. Touching her, almost kissing her or kissing her on some less controversial spot then her lips, testing his limits, testing his feelings-it was an enormous, dangerous game he was playing, and he wasn't sure what he considered winning was. He knew that sometimes the only thing stopping him from making it more then a game was the expression on her face when she felt flustered. She was so strong, confident, relentless, beautiful, and the last sort of person who should feel nervous about guys, but she was, and somehow that only made her more perfect, more her, and yet he couldn't help but laugh at how incongruous to the rest of her it was.

He had to do something. Hanging around Yayoi was dangerous-it was addictive, and he wasn't sure even if he managed to make sure his father was cured that he'd be able to leave Yayoi.

Ura sighed, depressed now. He needed to think about something else. He almost hoped there was something there when they arrived, preferably a demon that he could beat up as compared to a ghost that was Yayoi's specialty.

He noticed that Yayoi had moved farther ahead while he'd been slowly walking, thinking of things, and jogged a bit to catch up. He was about to complain again when he noticed the expression on her face and straightened slightly. "What is it?" he asked.

Yayoi shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not quite sure. It's odd. For a few moments, I could literally taste the pain, terror, hatred, and evil in the air. Then suddenly it's almost completely gone. I know I'm not going in the wrong direction, because it was growing stronger as I headed towards the address we were supposed to go. It's almost as if another spiritualist has been here, but different. I know what my mom's powers felt like, and I've meet a few other's in my life, but this is just…different. It's strange. And the presence before wasn't a spiritual presence like a malevolent ghost; it felt more demonic. I can't do that. I can't get rid of a demonic aura, only a spiritual one."

Ura's eyebrows pulled together. "That's odd. Maybe the old lady might be able to tell us something, since she's apparently so nosy. How much farther?"

Yayoi double-checked the address she'd written down; then pointed towards a house that was right besides the abandoned house that was at the end of the street opposite them. A woman was walking down the street, and she looked rather odd, as if she'd rubbed streaks of reddish clay or something across her, and she wasn't wearing a shirt. Ura shrugged and ignored the woman walking away, and headed for the house the old lady lived in. Yayoi had stopped walking, though, and was staring at the woman. Ura rolled his eyes. "Idiot, I'm pretty sure that ain't the old lady. Aren't you supposed to be a professional or something? Let's get going on the job."

Yayoi shook her head slightly and turned her attention back to him. "I'm not an idiot. I just think I used to know her."

"Please tell me you're not going to want to catch up with her and have a girly chat about the good ole days, are you?" Ura asked. He'd tried to limit meeting more human girls after going to Yayoi's school. He still kept an eye on her often, camping out as a cat in a tree outside her school sometimes, but he refused to enter that hell hole again unless it was a life or death situation.

Yayoi sighed, but turned her attention back to the task at hand. "I'm going," she said, and ushered Ura on.

Soon they were at the front door, and Yayoi was knocking. Ura only hoped that the woman wouldn't be as bad as her younger counterparts. An older woman (Ura didn't know how old 'cause he sucked at telling how old a human was-if she'd been a demon, he'd guess a bazillion years old, but maybe since she was human maybe she was only 233 or something) answered the door. She had brittle white hair tied back into a bun and was wearing an old-fashioned dress. At least it looked different from the sort of thing Yayoi and any other females he generally saw wore.

Yayoi bowed and introduced herself and him, though the old pervert was eyeing him with obvious approval. He hid a shudder and scowled instead, only to have Yayoi elbow him.

"Well, come in, come in then," the older lady said, and ushered them in, "You're a bit late though. Everything's already happened."

"Happened? What do you mean?" Yayoi asked as she sat down on the sofa. Ura perched himself on the armrest besides her crossed one leg so that his left foot was resting on his right knee, and sighed dramatically, so that Yayoi would know what a sacrifice he was making for her.

"Well, about an hour ago a young woman dress in a t-shirt, exercise pants, and tennis shoes went running past my house like the wind almost an hour ago now. She went straight to the house, and didn't hesitate but went right in. I heard some weird noises then, and then silence. I almost called the police, I was so worried about the young woman, but after about twenty minutes she came out, shirtless and carrying a young girl who was maybe almost a teenager in her arms. It looked like she was covered in blood from the girl she was carrying, and that she'd used her t-shirt to bind the wounds the girl had. Then, about thirty-five, maybe forty minutes after that she comes back, but in a car with two men. One man looked like a city official or someone important-he was in a suit, and the other man, the man driving, was dressed in a long sleeve shirt and jeans. They went in, and about ten, maybe fifteen minutes later, the girl leaves, just walking away. I hope she's okay, walking home like that in just a bloody bra. It's supposed to get cold tonight. Those men looked nice-I wonder why they didn't offer her a ride home. You suppose they had an argument?" she asked anxiously.

Ura looked out the window-he had seen a green car earlier, but it was gone now. He swore silently to himself then realized that Yayoi thought she recognized the girl. Maybe they could catch up with her that way. He was interested in learning what kind of spiritualist could use spells that apparently counter-acted a demon's aura, and finding out if she was a threat or not, though she might not be too bad if she ran in to rescue someone she didn't even know.

Ura thought about that for a second, and then looked over at Yayoi. Sounded like something she would do. Maybe that wasn't such a good sign. Two Yayoi's would be a headache.

Yayoi looked puzzled. "You're sure it was that girl who just left when we were walking up?" she asked.

"Oh yes, quite sure," the woman assured, "it was her all right."

Yayoi appeared to consider this for a moment. Ura wondered what she was thinking, but gave it up for a lost cause. Figuring out her thought process gave him a headache sometimes-this was one of those times. Finally she nodded, and then smiled at the old lady. "Well, I'm glad it was fixed. If anything happens again, just let me know."

"I'm sorry for making you come all the way out here for nothing," the old lady apologized. Frankly, Ura didn't believe her. She seemed to relish getting to share the gossip.

"It's all right," Yayoi said politely. Ura didn't think it was all right, and was about to say so when Yayoi stepped on his foot. Damn the woman! He bit his lip and contemplated revenge. "We'll just be going now. You have a nice day."

"Well," the woman was obviously disappointed they were leaving, "You're more then welcome to stay for tea."

That was more like it! Ura opened his mouth again, and Yayoi shook her head. Ura snarled slightly, and Yayoi rolled her eyes slightly and mouthed the words, "I'll fix something later." That shut him up. Maybe he'd get lucky and be able to pick something out. Seemed like all they were having was pudding lately. Damn Hakuyo for being so good at getting his way.

"Thank you, but we've got to get going! Can't leave the temple unattended for too long," Yayoi said.

"Ah, well. Feel free to stop by any time!" the woman offered.

"Thank you. Goodbye!" Yayoi said, and they left.

After they were a couple minutes away Ura felt inclined to point out that, "Hakuyo is at the shrine. That isn't unattended."

Yayoi looked at him for a moment, raising an eyebrow slightly.

"Right," Ura said, remembering that Hakuyo probably wasn't paying any attention to if anyone was at the shrine or not, "What do you think about everything that happened? You think it was a demon?"

"I'm pretty positive," Yayoi said, "I've gotten pretty good at telling when a demon's been nearby with all the practice I've been getting lately. It's just the odd thing is that if that was who I think it was, it's really weird."

"What do you mean?" Ura asked.

"It's just that while Kagome grew up on a shrine, she never really believed in demons or ghosts. It was like she was the ultimate unspiritual person. Don't get me wrong, she was always really nice, but I could never feel the slightest amount of spiritual energy from her. You see, our families both went to meetings and conventions for shrine-keepers, and we were the only girls around our ages, even though she's about two years older then me. I always admired her, though I wished that she could see spirits too. When she got older, she stopped coming, and I didn't see her again. That was when I was about thirteen, and she was fifteen. I just figured she felt like she was too old, but maybe something happened. Maybe I just mistook her for someone else, and it's not really Kagome. I don't know, it's weird, like I said," Yayoi was sounding frustrated and a bit sad.

"You were really good friends with her, weren't you?" he asked finally.

"Yeah," Yayoi admitted after a moment.

"Why didn't you ever go ask her what happened?" he said, "You're not the sort of person to just give up."

"You don't know her," Yayoi said, "She was just…so nice. She was beautiful, and everyone loved her. I never understood why she let someone two years younger then her hang out with her. She was just so…perfect. Even my mom loved her, and you know what she was like."

Unspoken was Ura could tell she thought: "I didn't think I was good enough to be her friend. I was always waiting for her to realize that and leave, and then she did."

Ura thought that was shit, but she was telling him things he never knew about her, so he'd rephrase it a little nicer. "You were the one with powers though. If that wasn't her, that just means she was and still is ordinary. You were born into the Suzuka family, wielders of the Spirit Wheel Key for centuries. Shouldn't she be the one who wants to be friends with you?"

Yayoi sighed. "You don't know how often I sometimes wished I was normal like her."

Ura stared at her, and she shook her head. "You were born a prince. Didn't you ever wish that your father was just another demon, that there weren't expectations you had to live up to? That every move you made wasn't watched by everyone, that you weren't always judged, that demons weren't always looking at you and wondering if you'd make a good king? Wondered if there hadn't been all that pressure; that Ouga wouldn't have felt forced to resort to darker methods?"

Ura blinked. She fucking did it again! How did she fucking read his mind like that?!

"What are you going to do?" he asked, wanting to change the subject.

"I don't know. I suppose I could go to her shrine and see if it was her. If it wasn't, there's not much we can really do, but if it is, I want to make sure she knows as a spiritualist that demons might be coming after her," Yayoi said.

"Uh, who'd want to go after her? She hasn't sealed the Prince of Demons," Ura said.

Yayoi rolled her eyes. "Maybe they just don't want to have to put up with you. I can't blame them-you're a headache."

Ura nodded sagely. "Very true. I wouldn't want to have to fight me either."

End of Chapter 1

Well, I hope everyone enjoyed. In a couple chapters or so, I'll probably be moving this over to the Mugen Spiral section, since that section needs all the help it can get. I also probably have the next couple of chapters pretty much ready to go, as soon as I feel like it.

Everyone: If you haven't yet read it, seriously, go check out Mugen Spiral. The series is well-written, it has great characters, a great story line, and loads of hilarious moments. And it has demons. Who can resist demons?


	2. Chapter 2

Hello! I'd like to say thank you to all of my reviewers. Once again I'd like to remind everyone that after the third chapter, I'll be moving this story to the Mugen Spiral category. Hope everyone enjoys this second chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or Mugen Spiral.

**Demons&Shrines**

_Chapter 2_

The next day, Ura waited impatiently outside Yayoi's bedroom door after having been kicked out…again. She was taking forever this morning to get ready. He groaned and leaned against the wall.

"I don't see why I can't come. Besides, if she's a spiritualist," Hakuyo whispered as he appeared besides him.

"Shit!" Ura said in surprise, somehow managing to shout quietly.

"Shhh!" Hakuyo said, holding a finger up to his mouth, "You don't want her to hear."

"It is a possibility," Ura admitted, "But Yayoi would probably guess I was the one who'd stolen her friend's powers. And that's assuming she's worth the dirt Yayoi steps on."

Hakuyo palmed his face. "Ura, you've got to face the facts. At this point, I'm sure the palace healers have put your father in a coma to try and slow the progress of the curse-they were talking about that before I left. But that only gives him an extra four to five months, which means now that that only gives him an extra three to maybe four months now. Stealing a spiritualist's powers so that you'll be able to heal your father is the only way I see. You've got to do something if you want him to live."

Ura glared at him. "I'm not having this argument again, and you can't come with us because if Yayoi was mistaken, then she doesn't want to bring anything demonic into that woman's life. She's only letting me come because I'll be in my human form."

"I can wear a disguise," Hakuyo protested, "I went to the beach. I even got picked up."

"Some lover you are," Ura muttered.

Hakuyo immediately brightened. "Are you jealous? Oh, don't worry, my heart belongs to your riches!"

Ura lifted an eyebrow. "Didn't you mean to say me?"

Hakuyo nodded. "Yes, yes, wasn't that what I said? To your riches and power."

Ura sighed. "Just forget it. Besides, if she is a spiritualist, what if she has a grudge against demons and senses you? Then where will you be?"

Hakuyo's lip pouted out slightly. "You don't think I can't defeat some two-bit spiritualist? Besides, you'll be there, my brave prince."

"Screw it," Ura said, then yelled, "Yayoi, tell Hakuyo he can't come!"

"I really need someone to watch the shrine, Hakuyo, I'm sorry! I promise I'll make you whatever you want for supper!" Yayoi yelled.

"Deal," Hakuyo said quickly, "I want pudding. Lots and lots of pudding," and he left before the deal could be retracted.

Ura hit his forehead. "Why?" he asked himself, "I know Hakuyo; I know what he's like! Why can't I guess what he's up to by now?! Yayoi, get the fuck dressed already! I need to get out of here!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Yayoi yelled, though the sounds of jumping about could be heard. She was probably putting on her shoes, Ura deduced, and rolled his eyes. What was with that girl today? She was totally freaking out about meeting this Kagami person.

"I'm done!" Yayoi said, walking out of the room. Ura's mouth fell slightly. She was wearing a light white dress with light sleeves that barely covered her shoulders, a blousy bodice, after which the dress flared out slightly down to her knees. She was wearing white, strappy sandals and her hair was up in a bun.

She looked great. Why in the hell did she look great?! She never dressed up for him! "Where on earth are you going?" Ura demanded.

Yayoi stared at him. "Don't you remember? Kagome's house."

"But…but…you're all dressed up!" Ura protested.

Yayoi colored slightly, and she twisted the Spirit Key nervously around her wrist. "It's just-I haven't seen her in over three years. I want to look nice."

Ura's eyes narrowed. This Kagami person better be worth it, or he was going to kill her, spiritualist or not.

* * * * *

"How many steps do you need?" Ura complained, looking up at the stairway as the taxi drove away.

"It's a steep hill," Yayoi said as she started to climb.

Ura groaned, and started the hike. Once again, the bright spot was that especially in this dress, Yayoi made for nice scenery.

After what felt like hours of climbing, they finally reached the top. "You couldn't have turned me into my normal form for this?" Ura asked, panting slightly.

"For the last time, turning you into a demon just to climb steps is ridiculous, and besides, we still don't know what's waiting for us up here!" Yayoi admonished.

"Huh," was Ura's only remark.

"Why, if that isn't little Yayoi! You've gotten so big!" an older woman was speaking, probably not this Kagami person but Ura was still having trouble with the age thing.

"Mrs. Higurashi! I'm delighted to see you again! Is Kagome in?" Yayoi asked, a slight hint of anxiety audible to Ura's ears, at least.

Mrs. Higurashi's smile fell slightly, but she rallied after a moment. "She's out back, practicing again. I think something upset her yesterday. Maybe you'll be able to cheer her up-you and her were always such good friends."

Ura thought this was a good sign that maybe this Kagami person was at least the right one, but what on earth was she practicing?

Apparently, Yayoi was wondering the same thing. "Practicing?" she asked.

Mrs. Higurashi half-smiled. "You'll see. Kagome's…well, I'll let you see."

Yayoi smiled, and thanked her before turning to walk around the house. As they got closer they could hear a rapid twang, thump, twang thump. As they turned the corner, both Yayoi and Ura stopped, staring. The Kagami person had apparently been shooting arrows into a target that was across the courtyard in the back until it looked like a pincushion. Ura could barely see any free spots an arrow could fit into, but another arrow flew and landed with precision.

While the target was across the courtyard from the woman, Kagami was actually only a couple yards away, facing away from them. She sighed, apparently having realized she was out of arrows. She'd barely taken a step towards the target, presumably to remove the arrows, when Yayoi spoke, "Wow, Kagome, I never knew you liked archery, or were so good!"

"Shit!" the woman swore in surprise, turning around and spotting them. Ura didn't really see what all the fuss Yayoi was making was about. She looked too worn out to really be pretty, with an overly thin frame, a tank top and jeans, and black hair that wasn't as long as Yayoi's, only reaching mid back. A happy smile lit her face, however, when she spotted Yayoi.

"Wow, Yayoi, you startled me! You've gotten so much taller, and you look so pretty! I haven't seen you since…" she trailed off for a minute, and shook her head. "Sorry, I've been a bit tired lately. How are you doing? Are your parents doing all right?"

Yayoi, who'd been looking happy that Kagami was so happy to see her, turned sad. "My parents died a few months ago."

Kagami's face fell as well. "I'm so sorry. It must have been horrible to loose both of them at once. I was so sad when my father died. Are you doing all right? Is there anything I can do?"

Yayoi shook her head, a smile coming back to her face. "No, I've taken over the shrine and everything. It's going all right."

"Wow. You're what, about sixteen and a half now? That's really impressive," Kagami praised.

Yayoi flushed slightly. "It's not like our shrine was ever that busy. I can't believe you can shoot like that though. It's amazing!"

It was Kagami's turn to flush, and look nervously over her shoulder. "It's nothing. I started a few years ago. Who's this?" she asked, turning her attention to Ura, "Your boyfriend?"

Yayoi's eyes widened and she shook her head. "He's a guest staying at the shrine. I think he just likes the food."

Ura's eyes narrowed. Stupid Yayoi. Kagami laughed though. "You always were such a good cook! Remember that one time we snuck off and made such a mess in the kitchens provided to the convention?"

Yayoi smiled as well from the memory. "That was fun."

"My mom still has blackmail pictures from that day. We were a mess," Kagami said, "I'm hoping I can discover the hiding place and steal them from her."

Ura was getting annoyed with all this girl gossip shit and mutual love fest. And Yayoi hadn't even introduced him yet! "Yo, you going to tell her my name any time soon or have I become some prop for your amusement? And this ain't a pleasure visit. Get on with it."

Kagami's attention fell on him, her smile dying away some as she started at him, as if she was looking right through him. "You're different, aren't you?" she said finally.

"What do you mean?" Ura said aggressively. She was making him uncomfortable with that stare.

"I mean you're different," she said, and turned her attention back to Yayoi. She seemed to hesitate for an instant, before saying, "Why don't you two come in and have some tea, and you can tell me what this boy is so impatient to discuss."

Boy? The nerve! He was way older then her, that was for sure! Yayoi didn't let him yell though, but said, "Thank you Kagome."

Kagome nodded and turned around to lead them to the back door, Yayoi following her. Ura snarled at the girl's back slightly, but followed as well.

She sat them down at the table, unwilling to let Yayoi help (a stupid decision on her part, Ura thought) and bustled around. Her movements seemed a bit jerky, but she'd prepared some tea and had brought out some snacks to eat at the meal, before sitting down to join them.

Yayoi glared at him, a silent warning to behave, and was about to say something when Mrs. Higurashi came in. She looked surprised to see them there, and her eyes immediately sought out Kagome. She seemed to hesitate before simply saying, "If you need anything, let me know. I'll be right here."

Kagami smiled at her mother in appreciation, nothing like her previous smiles (not that Ura was paying attention) and said, "Thanks, mom. It'll be fine."

"Okay then," Mrs. Higurashi said, "I'm going to go work a bit."

All right," Kagami replied, and watched as her mother left. Ura thought the whole thing seemed off. Even sitting down, it seemed that she was filled with a nervous energy he hadn't noticed outside, and her eyes seemed to flit around sometimes. It was weird.

"So, Yayoi, why did you come today?" Kagami asked. She didn't reach for any of the food in front of her.

"Well," Yayoi hesitated, "I guess first I should tell you his name is Ura."

"Finally," Ura grunted, before grabbing some of the food and tasting it. It actually tasted pretty good. He looked at the two girls, who were staring at each other. He took the opportunity to load his plate while they weren't paying attention.

"Um…where were you yesterday? I was out, on call, and I thought I saw you, but, it was so far from the shrine I wasn't sure," Yayoi said.

Kagami's eyes darkened slightly but she kept the tone of her voice light. "I went on a long walk. It could have been me."

"You walked there?" Yayoi said, surprised.

"It's good exercise," Kagami said defensively. They both stared at her then. She was fricking skinny, and she was talking about going on walks for exercise. "I like walking," she added, "What were you doing out?" she asked, obviously hoping to change the subject.

"Well, not only did I take over the shrine, but I've been helping people who called wanting exorcisms and that sort of thing. I know you never believed in it, but…" Yayoi stopped, since Kagami was shaking her head slightly.

"Even if there isn't a problem, sometimes it's the peace of mind the exorcism gives to the person that matters," Kagami explained.

"True," Yayoi said, apparently surprised by her answer, "Anyways, you were coming out of the house the woman was worried about, and she said you'd taken care of it."

Kagami's face shuttered. "What?" she asked.

"Well, she couldn't really tell me much, and I didn't know it might have been you at the time, but she told me that she saw someone leaving the house carrying someone else, and that that person was the same person I'd seen leaving when I came up," Yayoi said.

"I heard some crying coming from the house, and went in to investigate," Kagami said guardedly, "I found an injured girl, used my shirt to bandage the worst of her wounds, and made sure she got to the hospital. Then I called…a person I knew who knows some policemen to tell me the best person to call, they came and got my statement, and then went home."

Ura looked at Yayoi, who looked at him, then they both turned their attention back to Kagami who stared back at them, obviously feeling uncomfortable. After a couple of moments of silence, Yayoi opened her mouth, probably about to ask a question, when Kagami burst out, "I have to go outside," and hurried from the room.

"She's weird," Ura said, "I don't get what's so special about her."

Yayoi was staring after Kagami. "Her spirit feels…disturbed. She used to give me the most peaceful feeling when I was around her, like I knew, for certain, that I was safe around her. She feels stronger then she used to, but at the same time more fragile. I think something's wrong."

"Huh," Ura said, "I suppose you're going to go get us involved in another one of your crusades."

Yayoi glared at him. "You're more then welcome to stay here and eat. I need to go talk to my friend privately anyways." Ura stared after her, once more getting annoyed at Yayoi for being so confusing and aggravating. Kagami might make Yayoi feel safe, but she disturbed him. He'd stay here, but the minute he heard something weird going on, he was scramming, and Yayoi was coming with him, willing or not.

* * * * *

Kagome placed her forehead against the Goshinboku, willing herself to calm down as she let the peace of the tree, and the comfort of being in open air seep in. She hated this. She hated feeling uncomfortable any time she had to be inside. She couldn't even sleep inside, and it was all that damn Naraku's fault. And it was bad enough being inside, but Yayoi was asking questions that made her nervous.

She'd missed Yayoi, of course, but she could barely get time away from the feudal era for school-she hated to know what Inuyasha would have said if she told him she needed to be away for a week or so to go to a convention to meet up with her friend. And she'd felt so guilty, and she was always trying to finish homework or having to hurry back to the feudal era that getting away from the house was practically impossible.

"Are you okay, Kagome?" Yayoi asked from behind her, "It wasn't my questions, was it? I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

Kagome closed her eyes as she shook her head. "It wasn't that. Not completely that. I…it just felt…like the walls were closing in on me some," It was embarrassing to admit that Naraku still had any power over her, but she didn't want to lie to Yayoi, especially when she was getting a feeling similar to the ones she'd gotten from Miroku from Yayoi, though not the same. She shouldn't be telling her the story, not being completely sure Yayoi knew much about youkai, but maybe; maybe if she told, she could have a friend again. She wouldn't be so alone anymore.

"What do you mean? You never had any problem inside before," Yayoi stated, her head tilted to the side a bit.

"It's…" Kagome shook her head, "I don't talk about it."

"Does it anything to do with...demons?" Yayoi asked after a moment.

Kagome's mouth turned up at the side slightly. "It's funny, you know? You were always the one who believed in demons and ghosts and so on."

"What happened? I know what it's like not being able to tell people-you can tell me. I'm sure it won't be anything I haven't heard of before," Yayoi said.

Kagome broke into slightly hysterical laughter, not something she'd been doing too much of lately. The idea… "I'm…sorry, it's just…"

She could feel Yayoi's startled eyes staring at her helpless form. "Ka…Kagome?"

Kagome finally managed to stop laughing. "I'm not trying to be rude, really. The idea, though, that anyone's ever had to see some of things I have."

Yayoi's face tightened and Kagome knew she'd overstepped the line. She hadn't meant to hurt her feelings. "No, really. Let me show you," Kagome walked over to the shed where the well was housed. "Open the door and tell me what you sense," Kagome instructed.

Yayoi still had her closed expression on, but she walked over to the door. "There's an arrow sticking through it," she pointed out.

"Oh, sorry. I better take that out," Kagome said, and yanked it out, breaking the spell of sealing she'd placed on the place to hide its aura and contain any evil remaining from the bones of youkai long dead.

The instant Kagome removed the arrow, she could feel the well's power. On some level, she'd always known that something was special, different about the well. She hadn't been scared of it, exactly, but there was always a sense of what might be described as destiny, or duty. Now, however, that her journeys to the past were now complete, its time traveling powers gone-it just felt evil…

She turned around, and could see Yayoi's face, no longer shuttered, now shocked. "What…what is that?" she asked in a whisper.

"Open the door, but I wouldn't recommend getting too close," Kagome said.

Yayoi cautiously and respectfully opened the door. She peered into the darkness, where the well lay. "The source of the evil is a well?"

"It's called the bone eaters well. Long ago, centuries, in fact, the remains of demons were thrown in there. I don't know how many bodies of demons remain there, but I know it must be hundreds of thousands," Kagome whispered respectfully.

"It's amazing," Yayoi said, her voice awed, "But it's so evil. What does it have to do with whatever happened to you?"

Kagome sighed. "Just a minute," she said, and closed the door. She went to grab her bow, and shot the arrow back into the door, after which the feeling of evil ceased, contained once more behind the walls of the well house.

Yayoi's eyes were wide. "How do you do that?"

Kagome looked at her, slightly surprised. "I'm a miko. A miko's powers are mostly for dealing with youkai, using our purification powers."

Yayoi's eyes widened further. "A miko? Like the ones of old? I thought they were just a myth!"

Kagome's chuckle was bitter. "A myth is pretty close to the truth. Let's sit down on the bench," she said, gesturing towards the one in front of the giant tree.

Yayoi followed her, still staring at her. "I never felt evil from the well until about a year ago. To me, it always felt powerful, sacred, a place that shouldn't be disturbed. I felt just a bit uneasy, though, as if it was waiting for me. And that was the truth. You see, long ago, a priestess named Kikyou lived who was given the task of guarding the Shikon no Tama."

"Isn't that the jewel this shrine had been built to protect?" Yayoi asked.

"Yes. The jewel of four souls, said to contain the soul of the most powerful priestess ever, and the souls of the demons she sealed along with her to protect the world from their evil. The power it has is immense, tempting human and demon alike to come and take its power to make their wishes come true. It was a heavy burden for anyone, and Kikyou, while a strong priestess, was no exception. She longed to be a normal woman, to have a husband and family. So when she met someone she felt she had a connection to, she slowly started to fall in love. However, years ago, a dark miko cursed Kikyou to loose her powers once she fell in love with someone. The one she fell in love with was no normal man, however, but a hanyou: half human, and half youkai, a dog youkai, actually. Kikyou believed that if a pure wish was made upon the jewel, the jewel would be destroyed. If the jewel was destroyed, maybe she could fulfill her dream, no longer tied to the burden," Kagome sighed slightly before taking a deep breath to continue.

"Some say, however, that the priestess fell more in love with the idea of having someone to love then with the hanyou. Maybe that's true or maybe it isn't. Either way, Kikyou thought that the pure wish could be that he would become fully human, thus destroying the jewel, and making sure that everything would be normal between them. However, she'd lived in seclusion and distrust for so long as she protected the jewel that even then, she decided to create a back up plan. If something went wrong, if the hanyou betrayed her and took the jewel from her and killed her, she wanted to make sure that her heir, someone with the power to succeed her, would be available. The well is an immensely powerful artifact, made from the wood of the Goshinboku. The Goshinboku, however, as one of the trees that lived through centuries, is what is called a time tree, one of the few remaining ones in this world. Kikyou harnessed both its power as well as tapping into the more malevolent power of the deceased demons to create a spell that would ensure that if she died, when her heir was ready, she'd be brought to that era to protect the jewel," Kagome closed her eyes for a moment.

"Era?" Yayoi whispered in shock.

"Kikyou was right to be wary, though she suspected the wrong person. She'd been nursing a burned man, a bandit, who desired Kikyou for himself. Upon finding out that she was going to be with what he considered a filthy hanyou, he cast a spell of dark magic, offering his soul to youkai in order to be healed and have the power to take Kikyou as his own. No one knows how many lesser youkai came to feast upon his dark soul, thus combining together to form a new being. Healed, but no longer human, or even in control, the monster that would come to be known as Naraku was born. His obsession with Kikyou was so strong that it remained and combined with the lesser youkai's desire for the Shikon no Tama. He set about immediately to take the jewel, and Kikyou, for himself. As a conglomeration of various youkai, one of his most dangerous abilities was to shift form and take on another's appearance. He appeared as Kikyou to the hanyou and shoot an arrow towards him, making him believe that the miko had tricked him. He attacked Kikyou in the form of the hanyou, making her believe that her fears were true. Both feeling betrayed, Kikyou set about her plans to destroy the hanyou while the hanyou decided to enact his revenge by stealing the jewel. He succeeded in stealing the jewel, but only briefly. However, for some reason, instead of purifying him, Kikyou sealed him to the Goshinboku in an eternal sleep, for while a hanyou or youkai will age, however slowly, when sealed to an ordinary tree, the Goshinboku as a time tree would keep him forever asleep," Kagome stared up at the Goshinboku behind her. It had grown, and she could no longer see the scar of where Inuyasha had been sealed.

"How awful," Yayoi said, "both believing the one that they were willing to give up their lifestyles for had betrayed them."

"And it wasn't over. For when Naraku had attacked Kikyou in another's form, he'd left a wound. If she'd tended it, maybe she might have lived, but instead she went after the hanyou and after her arrow flew and sealed her love forever, she died, asking only that the jewel which had caused so much sorrow be burned with her body, and causing it to disappear from the world for centuries. Five hundred years later, on my fifteenth birthday, the well, and the spell which had grown and twisted through the centuries, awakened. I stood by the well, looking for Buyo, my cat, and instead, a centipede youkai, revived slightly by the power of the spell and the power of the Shikon no Tama, dragged me into the well, and through the centuries. I panicked, and the first physical manifestation of my power happened, in which I purified her enough to send her back to the void for a time," Kagome had her eyes closed as she remembered everything.

"You said the Shikon was burned, so how did the influence of the Shikon help to revive the youkai?" Yayoi asked.

"I didn't know it then, but I'd guarded the jewel without knowing for years as it resided within my body, for I was Kikyou's reincarnation. But I didn't find that out until later. I climbed out of the well to find myself in the middle of a clearing. Confused, I headed towards the Goshinboku, the only thing familiar to me. However, to my surprise a beautiful boy was pinned there, with vines growing around him with an old arrow holding him to the tree. He looked so peaceful…" Kagome smiled warmly, "and he had the cutest white puppy dog ears poking up through his white hair. I couldn't resist-I climbed up the old roots and touched them to see if they were really real. Unfortunately, this was how the nearby villagers found me, and believed that I was something evil trying to revive the demon which had caused so much damage fifty years ago. They tied me up and dragged me to the village to be inspected by their village miko, an elderly woman, but much respected for her wisdom. She came up and tried to banish me…that didn't work. But as she looked more closely at me, she realized something. I looked just like her older sister, dead fifty years after the attempt to steal the jewel."

"Kikyou had a younger sister?" Yayoi asked, surprised.

"Yes," Kagome answered, "She untied me and brought into her home, gave me food, watching me closely the entire time. Unfortunately, the centipede youkai had been gathering her strength and attacked the village, yelling 'The jewel, give me the jewel!' Keade, the miko, told me to run, and I did. It chased after me, and I ended up in front of the Goshinboku once more. However, my presence there had apparently awakened the sleeping hanyou. I looked up at him to seeing him glaring down at me, convinced I was Kikyou back to taunt him, unaware that fifty years had passed. I managed to convince him I was not Kikyou, but before we could get farther in our conversation, the centipede demon arrived and wrapped around us, binding us together to the tree. You have to understand that she was huge, at least two hundred feet long with her head being the upper part of a woman's body with four extra arms. She was crushing us both, and Inuyasha made a deal with me-remove the arrow that sealed him, and he would destroy her. Keade, who'd caught up to us along with the villagers, told me not to, but she couldn't destroy the demon, and I was still mostly unaware of my powers. I took his offer."

"Now, I've said that the hanyou, Inuyasha, was a half demon, but he had more power then many, many full demons, for his father had been a taiyoukai, a youkai among youkai. Even diluted by human blood, Inuyasha was strong. However, before he could kill her, she bit into my side and tore the jewel from my body. Even a shard of the Shikon has the ability to exponentially increase a youkai's power, and she had the entire thing. If she had been stronger, more intelligent before she possessed it, we'd probably have all died. Inuyasha, however, defeated her with an ease that seem natural, leaving her in pieces on the ground. Unfortunately, the Shikon is so powerful, that even possessing it in death gives one the ability to return to life. The pieces on the ground were moving. That was when I discovered I had the ability to see it, even through flesh. I pointed out where it was, and Keade removed it and gave it to me," Kagome was smiling now, not in remembrance of the moment, but of what was about to happen.

"Now Inuyasha was still in a pretty foul mood, and he'd been sealed in the process of running away with the Shikon. Not surprisingly, he attacked, demanding the Shikon no Tama. I ran, trying to avoid his claws as they gouged holes in the earth and various trees alike. Keade, however, had a relic her sister had left her, a necklace of subjugation. She cast a spell to send it around his neck, and told me to speak the word of subjugation," Kagome's face was slightly rueful as she continued, "I, of course, had no idea what that was. A word of subjugation? His ears provided me with my inspiration. I commanded him to sit."

Yayoi gapped. "Sit?" she asked, "like a dog?"

Kagome nodded solemnly. "Sit. He didn't actually sit; the necklace became very heavy, and slammed him into the ground. Inuyasha was always stubborn, however, and tried coming after me again. We were on a bridge, and I was feeling so relieved to finally be able to do something to protect myself. When I told him to sit, sit, sit, he finally went through the bridge to the water below."

Kagome and Yayoi had been so engrossed in the conversation that they hadn't realized that Ura had come out after he'd heard Kagome's full-blown laughter (it counted as something weird to him), and had been listening the entire time. He'd been pretty good at staying unnoticed until now, but his dismay at listening to the part of the story about Inuyasha's necklace could not be silenced.

"What was that?" Kagome asked.

Yayoi, however, had a very good idea. Her eyebrow twitched. "Uuurrraaaaa…"

Ura, panicked, decided to pretend it wasn't him. "Mrroowww…" He was good at imitating cats-he'd had practice, after all. He was just a cat in the woods, not an eavesdropping demon in human form that moonlighted as a cat.

Unfortunately, Yayoi wasn't fooled. "Ura, I know it's you. Don't make me say it…"

Ura tried to run away, but he was too late. Yayoi's face was truly aggravated as she took the necklace from her pocket and said, "I bind thee."

Kagome was staring, confused, as she felt a spell take place. "What?" she asked, not sure what to say.

"You were right," Yayoi said a bit grimly, "I hadn't imagined some of the things you're telling me. One, however, does ring a bell," she had stood up, and was digging through the bushes, "Meet Ura, version 2.0."

Kagome stared. "Ura?" she said, "He has a subjugation necklace?"

"I hate you," Ura muttered as he hung from Yayoi's arms.

"I sensed something strange from him, but," Kagome shook her head, "I just thought that maybe he had a bit of youkai blood in his veins from five or six generations back or something."

"What?!" Ura shrieked, "How dare you?! I am a full-blooded demon, I'll have you know! There isn't a drop of human blood running through my veins! I'm demon royalty! My clan has consistently produced demons that were able to take over the throne, more then any other clan!"

Kagome blinked before looking at Yayoi. "I like your subjugation necklace better," she said flatly, "He makes a cute cat. Inuyasha would have been an adorable puppy."

"Cute! I am not cute! I am a handsome specimen, even in a cat form, but I am not cute!" Ura declared.

"So he's a youkai, huh? Out of curiosity, what kind?" Kagome asked.

"He commands lightning," Yayoi said.

"What does he look like?" Kagome asked, a suspicion starting to grow in her mind.

"Like most demons, I suppose," Yayoi said thoughtfully as Ura gapped at her, "Pretty, of course, with pointy ears and a horn coming from his forehead. He has red hair and yellow eyes."

"I'm not pretty!" Ura protested, "And my eyes are golden, not yellow! The hair color is maroon! Get it right, woman! Why me?"

"Well," Kagome said thoughtfully, "Apparently my youkai and your demons are different. The youkai I met in the feudal era were all either based on an animal, or an element, or something of that sort, and they all reflected their heritage. Like I said, Inuyasha was part dog youkai, and had puppy ears. He didn't have a horn at all. The demon I meet yesterday, who was torturing the girl when I found them, had the overly pointed ears, and small horn you described. From what the detective told me, they've been having a lot of problems with this sort of demons."

"A detective? But…" Yayoi was confused, "How would the police…?"

"Oh, he's a youkai. That's why I called Inuyasha. He called one of his friends on the police force so I could let him know what happened," Kagome explained.

"Inuyasha? But you said he lived in the feudal era? Did he follow you through? And why did you call him?" Yayoi asked.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome said, her voice sad, "No. He stayed in the feudal era after everything was over. No, even as a hanyou, he has a long lifespan. I meet him again in this era. I called him because he was the only one I knew to call. Youkai live among us, just as if they were ordinary humans, using charms to conceal their appearances. I didn't know there were two kinds then, and I wanted to make sure that they knew that he didn't go missing."

"It's so much better to tell them you killed him," Ura muttered, but no one heard him.

"Wow," Yayoi said, "I can't believe I never knew."

"They hide their presence well," Kagome said, "Kitsune make their charms for illusions-they're the best. Anyways, they told me that they've never been able to find out where demons come from, because they either fight until they're dead, or disappear. They believe that demons live in an alternate dimension, since they couldn't find out where they live or where they disappear, but that's about all they know. However, the detective told me that it's gotten a lot worse, the past few months. You know why?"

Ura looked away, and Yayoi answered. "Demons, from what I can tell, mainly stay in their dimension, except for the ones that like hunting humans. However, because the current king has become ill, they've started preparing for a tournament to choose their next king. The way they do that is to go after spiritualists in this realm and take their powers for their own."

"Are you one of these? Did Ura try to kill you for your powers?" Kagome asked, curious. She couldn't sound too judgmental; she'd kept around several people in the feudal era whose meetings with her hadn't exactly been what you'd call cordial.

"Yes. I deal with ghosts and spirits mostly, but I can hold my own against most demons," Yayoi said with a smile.

Kagome looked at Ura, glowering in her arms, and the sides of her lips twitched. "I see what you mean."

"I was winning," Ura grumbled.

"I was being nice. I could have called Gaimei," Yayoi said pleasantly, "Or one of my other spirits."

"Spirits?" Kagome asked.

"Yes. Like I said, I deal with spirits and ghosts. Mostly I help them move on, but sometimes, there's a problem, or they have a reason to stay. When they stay, I can make a bargain with them to use their abilities in exchange for some of my power to help them interact with the everyday world when helping me and to sustain them when they're not," Yayoi said, "But not all of my spirits used to be human. Some are spirits of different things. Gaimei, which I mentioned, is a beast of darkness. He feeds off the darkness in people's hearts. The more there is, the more deadly he is."

"Wow," Kagome said, "Makes purification sound sorta dull."

"Nothing about the story you were telling was dull," Yayoi protested.

Kagome shrugged slightly. "It certainly was an experience," she admitted.

"What happened after that?" Yayoi asked.

Kagome sighed. "It gets complicated and long after that, not that it wasn't already. Inuyasha hung around, refusing to leave until he got the jewel, but unable to get the jewel because I was guarding it and still in control of the necklace. The next youkai to come after it was a crow youkai. They take over someone's body and make a nest in it, controlling the body as it rots around it. This particular crow demon had taken over the leader of a bandit gang, and they captured me. Through some unfortunate events, the crow demon managed to swallow the jewel. Inuyasha had shown up by then, and made me take a bow and arrows, since I was Kikyou's reincarnation."

"That's why you're so good with a bow!" Yayoi exclaimed.

Kagome's face fell, and she shook her head. "No," she said, "I was horrible. I was able to channel my purification energy into the arrows easily enough; pretty much the basic thing for most miko. The arrows don't do anything to a youkai if they don't manage to hit it though. Inuyasha was pissed. He dumped me off and went after the jewel himself. The crow youkai, meanwhile, decided to take a snack, and took off with a human child. When Inuyasha hit the demon with his claws, tearing it to pieces, the boy fell into the river. No one knew how to swim back then, and I went after the boy instead of trying to find the jewel. The youkai, of course, started to put itself back together. The boy I'd taken from the river still had a clawed foot attached to his shoulder. That's when I had my 'brilliant' idea," Kagome's voice was bitter, "I tied the foot onto one of the arrows and shoot it. Because the foot, like the rest of the crow youkai, was drawn to the jewel, it headed straight for it."

"So you killed it," Yayoi said, looking confused, "wasn't that good?"

"Like I said, my arrow headed straight for the jewel, and in the process of destroying the crow, shattered the jewel into dozens and dozens of pieces that flew all around Japan," Kagome said bitterly.

Yayoi's mouth dropped open and even Ura was staring at Kagome. "But…" Yayoi sounded shocked, "Didn't you say that even a single shard gives a demon dangerous powers?"

"Something learned from personal experience," Kagome said her voice still bitter, "Inuyasha and I spent about two and a half years after that, trying to complete the jewel. And not only does it give enormous powers, but it corrupts whoever holds it, causing them to become obsessed and bloodthirsty, which is why a miko must guard it, for the purity a miko possesses is the only thing that keeps the jewel dormant to any degree. Later, as we learned about Naraku, it became not just a hunt for shards, but a hunt for Naraku, who also was hunting the shards. Other enemies of Naraku joined us, for he had kept himself busy throughout the years. We defeated him, at the end, but it was a long process, and a close thing. Inuyasha and I lived-a Kitsune kit we'd left at home lived, but a fire-cat, her mistress, and the monk who traveled with us died during the battle. Then I came back here, and Kikyou's spell faded, considering its mission complete."

"Were you stuck in the feudal era all that time?" Yayoi asked.

Kagome shook her head. "No," and she smiled slightly, "Inuyasha and I had the biggest fights sometimes, when I demanded to go back for a test at school or for supplies."

"It's great he's still alive, at least," Yayoi offered, "And the little kitsune you mentioned."

Kagome's smile faded, and she shook her head. "It's good they're alive. It's just that it's been five hundred years for them. Shippou doesn't even remember me, he was so little, and Inuyasha…" Kagome shrugged.

"So what have you been doing, since you've gotten back?" Yayoi asked.

Kagome shrugged. "I spent most of the last year catching up on what I missed in school. I help around the shrine a bit, but it's a pretty small one, as you know, and grandpa pretty much takes care of it."

Yayoi's face lit up as an idea occurred to her. "I'm still in school, and since I'm not there the shrine has to be closed for over half the day, and first, I couldn't find anyone who wanted to work for a sixteen year old or that had the experience, and then I couldn't have anyone around that might find out about Ura or Hakuyo, or get attacked by demons coming after me. But you already know a bit about demons and way more about youkai then I do, and any demons that try to get you won't succeed! Really, Kagome, it would be a big favor to me, if you'd help me manage the shrine! I've been worrying about it for months! This will be perfect!"

Kagome blinked. "That's…a bit of a walk for everyday…" she said hesitatingly, but the idea appealed to her. At least she wouldn't be hanging around here everyday, wishing for something to do.

"What do you mean you've been worrying about it?" Ura asked, looking up at Yayoi's face, sounding annoyed, "You never mentioned anything about it to me!"

"It wasn't anything you needed to worry about," Yayoi said, shrugging, "And it wasn't too far of a ride, though I don't know how bad it would be with traffic."

Kagome's face fell slightly. "Maybe," she said, but meant no. If she took the offer, she'd just get early and walk there.

Yayoi smiled. "Great! If you want, you can ride home with us and we can show you around, and maybe you'll be able to get a better idea of my shrine, and if you'd like to do it."

"How about I come over tomorrow afternoon?" Kagome suggested.

Yayoi looked confused. "It's no problem at all for you to come with us."

Kagome sighed slightly. It had been bad enough to admit she couldn't stay in her own house for longer a few minutes, she didn't want to admit to the same for something as stupid a car ride. "Let me get changed," she said.

* * * * *

Sorry about all the explanation in the middle. I tried to make it as short as possible. It's always been one of my pet peeves when there is a crossover, the two groups find out about each other, and the author deals with it by basically saying that they told each other about the past so many years and everything that had happened. No one's going to sit down for that long, for one, and for another, I doubt Kagome would feel comfortable telling about some of the stuff that happened to her. So I had her explain the premise of her adventures, and anything else, Yayoi, Ura, and later, Hakuyo, will have to find out by themselves. I also tried to include a few things that weren't in the series but happened in my story.

Anyways, I hope everyone liked the second chapter! Again, after the next chapter, I'll be switching it to the Mugen Spiral category. I'm going to repeat this warning in the third chapter as well, so please bear with me. I don't want anyone who wants to continue reading it not know I moved it later on. Thanks again to everyone, and have a good day!


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